If I had the choice, 1333 7-7-7-18 or anything higher 9-9-9-24?

[HollowRopes]

I've found the 7-7-7-18 timings to be super fast if the RAM can support it (sometimes it requites a voltage boost). If you had the option between 12GB of 1333 ram at 7-7-7-18 or 12GB of 2100 or higher of 9-9-9-24 stuff, what would you choose? Just asking. Thanks.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Unless you are benchmarking, the different speeds between the two sets of ram would have zero impact on real world applications.

 

[HollowRopes]

Alright, thanks. What about the command rate? Does that matter either?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Alright, thanks. What about the command rate? Does that matter either?

On some MB's the command rate affects overall stability* but, in general, it has no effect on real world applications.
* if you're OCing.

 

[HollowRopes]

Okay, thanks a lot for the quick answers.

 

[Ben90]

2100@9s is without any doubt better than 1333@7s in every way aside from probably power consumption.

Since the CAS latency (9 vs 7) is measured in clock cycles, 9's in this situation will return data much faster. Each individual clock cycle of DDR3-2100 takes roughly 1.01ns. Each clock of DDR3-1333 takes 1.5ns. Applying the CAS delays (1.01ns*9 vs 1.5ns*7) yields 8.6ns vs 10.5ns. Not to mention the addition of much more bandwidth.

On a latency only basis, 1333@7s is almost the exact same as 2100@11s.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

2100@9s is without any doubt better than 1333@7s in every way aside from probably power consumption.

Since the CAS latency (9 vs 7) is measured in clock cycles, 9's in this situation will return data much faster. Each individual clock cycle of DDR3-2100 takes roughly 1.01ns. Each clock of DDR3-1333 takes 1.5ns. Applying the CAS delays (1.01ns*9 vs 1.5ns*7) yields 8.6ns vs 10.5ns. Not to mention the addition of much more bandwidth.

On a latency only basis, 1333@7s is almost the exact same as 2100@11s.

And if you aren't benchmarking, you will never see the difference.

 

[Ratman6161]

I've found the 7-7-7-18 timings to be super fast if the RAM can support it (sometimes it requites a voltage boost). If you had the option between 12GB of 1333 ram at 7-7-7-18 or 12GB of 2100 or higher of 9-9-9-24 stuff, what would you choose? Just asking. Thanks.

You don't say what cpu/chipset you are using but Annandtech did a review of this recently for Sandy Bridge:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3

To make a long story short on sandy bridge higher clocks are better than lower latency but the differences between the slowest and fastest are negligible in the real world. Article concluded that DDR31600 @9 was the "sweet spot". It also happens to be very cheap.